Techno-aggravation

Last Friday my laptop died. Apparently the logic board on my iBook G4 went kaput. I took my machine into the Apple Store on Michigan Ave. The tech diagnosed the demise of the logic board and sent off the machine to get repaired. I tried to back-up some of my files before he took the machine, but I was having trouble with my external hard drive and the transfer would take too long, according to the tech, and I couldn't sit there all day. He assured me that the hard drive wouldn't be replaced so I relented. BIG MISTAKE. I got my iBook back today and they replaced the hard drive. Not only did they replace it, they failed to archive my old drive or provide me with the actual drive they swapped out (one would think that would be normal, like the auto industry. What are they going to do with my old hard drive?). The long short of it is that I lost four years worth of archived emails. Most pertinent, were items pertaining to my upcoming European research venture. I went up to campus today and talked to someone in IT. They said they'd try to recover some of my emails. I'm hopeful, but prepared for the worst. The moral of the story: make sure you back up. Ok, I already knew that. But if you find yourself in a similar situation, DO NOT let some tech pressure you into hurrying with your files. Take every precaution, examine the paperwork carefully, and make sure the repair people will archive your files if you cannot. I'm really angry at the folks at the Apple Store (although I retain my love for Apple in general), but I'm angry at myself for letting them pressure me into doing something that I didn't feel right about from the get go.